Piston and cylinder paper cup dispenser



March 29, 1955 BENNETT 2,705,089

PISTON AND CYLINDER PAPER CUP DISPENSER Filed Dec. 13, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet l March 29, 1955 H. BENNETT PISTON AND CYLINDER PAPER cup DISPENSER Filed Dec. 15, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 any! 271 L55 United States Patent PISTON AND CYLINDER PAPER CUP DISPENSER Herbert L. Bennett, Easton, Pa., assignor to Dixie Cup Company, Easton, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Application December 13, 1951, Serial No. 261,562

1 Claim. (Cl. 22145) This invention relates to piston and cylinder type dispensers for receptacles made from thin flexible material, such as paper sundae dishes and paper drinking cups.

A piston and cylinder type dispenser comprises, in general, a piston and a cylinder apertured at both ends that is telescopically cooperative with the piston. At one end of the cylinder, the piston urges a stack of receptacles against retaining jaws at the opposite end of the cylinder, so that as each receptacle is withdrawn from the opposite end for use another receptacle slides up against the retaining jaws to take the place of the withdrawn receptacle. Although piston and cylinder type dispensers are ideal for many purposes, they also have certain characteristics which leave something to be desired. If spring means are used to urge the piston against the receptacle stack, careful adjustment of such spring means is ordinarily necessary to bring about the desired force exerted by the piston at all points in its travel from its entrance into the cylinder at one end until it approaches the receptacle exit at the opposite ends. Otherwise, proper cooperation between the receptacle stack and the retaining jaws might not be obtained.

In a gravity operated piston and cylinder type dispenser, the piston is usually stationary having the stack of receptacles mounted thereon cooperating with the retaining jaws so as to support the weight of the cylinder. As each receptacle is moved from the top, the cylinder moves downwardly so as to rest on the receptacle then remaining at the top of the stack. In order to have receptacles that are capable of holding up the container, it is necessary that such receptacles have certain minimum strength characteristics. Because of the strength problem, the receptacles usually used consist of a heavy waxed paper cup or dish having rolled brims mounted thereon (i. e., brims of several thicknesses of the paper which are obtained by rolling the paper so as to form an annular rolled flange mounted at the outer edge of the lip of the cup or dish).

Such brims reduce appreciably the number of receptacles that may be stacked in a given space and also leave a certain amount of space between each of such receptacles so that air borne contamination may be easily carried onto the surface of each cup or receptacle. The rolled brims are however, a necessary part of the receptacle for coaction with the jaws. Since the rolled brims are needed to coact with the jaws, it necessarily follows that such brims must rub against the cylinder wall as well as the jaws during ordinary operation of the dispenser and the rolled brims are thus subjected to an additional possibility of contamination. Also, the ordinary heavy waxed paper cup is not easily handled by the use of instruments and must ordinarily be removed from the dispenser manually.

Plain rimless dishes or cups such as the generally conically shaped ones now in use are much thinner than the usual rolled brim cups, having a maximum thickness (from a stacking point of view) of about two or three sheets of paper since that is the thickness of the overlap seam obtained in folding the paper into the conical shape desired. Such rimless dishes or cups have no additional strength along the lips thereof and, therefore, must be made from paper of suificient strength to coact with the jaws so as to resist whatever force is urging the stack against the jaws.

Moreover, the lips thereof are no better protected against contamination than those of rolled brim receptacles, since the lips must contact the inner cylinder wall and the jaws during the course of travel through the dis- 2,705,089 Patented Mar. 29, 1955 penser. Such rimless receptacles cannot ordinarily be loaded through the top of a cylindrical container without being damaged by the jaws, so bottom loading is necessary and this involves taking apart the piston and cylinder. Piston and cylinder dispensers which may be readily taken apart are necessarily designed so that there is free access to the bottom of the cylinder and that furnishes an additional source of possible contamination.

Conically shaped receptacles are not readily graspable manually, there being a tendency to pick up several receptacles at a time by pinching the top receptacle. Instrument grasping would be preferred from a health point of view but it ordinarily involves the use of devices which cut, tear or crimp the paper and may cause leaks therein. The use of a less vigorous grasping instrument requires extremely uniform release means from the cylindrical container in order to avoid separation of the receptacle from the instrument as it is sprung from the jaws.

Thus, no matter how such thin comically-shaped single sheet paper cups or dishes may be retained in a dispenser, the problem of handling them during withdrawal from the dispenser is greatly complicated by the combination therein of delicacy with high resilience and flexibility.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved gravity operated piston and cylinder type dispenser wherein receptacles having substantially the same thickness as plain rimless receptacles may be easily handled.

It is also an object of this invention to provide an improved piston and cylinder type dispenser having a very high capacity, since it does not require the use of rolled brim receptacles.

it is a further object of this invention to provide a piston and cylinder type dispenser wherein removal of the receptacles need not be carried out manually or by the use of instruments which might damage the receptacle.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide a piston and cylinder type dispenser which operates in conjunction with a certain type of receptacle so as to protect the lips thereof at all times during operation, and thereby to reduce the possibility of contamination.

It is another object of the instant invention to provide a piston and cylinder type dispenser which operates in conjunction with a certain type of receptacle so as to permit top loading of the container as well as uniform withdrawal of the individual receptacles from the top of the container.

Other and further important objects of this invention will be apparent from the disclosures of the specification and the accompanying drawings.

The invention (in a preferred form) is illustrated in the drawings and hereinafter more fully described.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a view in perspective of the piston and cylinder type dispenser of the invention containing a preferred type of receptacle for use in the instant invention, and having a bottom portion of the cylinder broken away;

Figure 2 is a vertical section of the dispenser;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the dispenser shown in Figure 1;

Figures 4a, 4b and 4c are perspective views showing, separately and together, the preferred receptacle for use in the invention and a preferred holder for retaining the receptacle during use by the consumer;

Figures 5a and 5b show respectively a vertical section of the preferred holder for the receptacle and a receptacle in the position occupied by the top receptacle of a stack in the dispenser, both being positioned with respect to each other in the manner in which they would be positioned just prior to contacting the holder with the receptacle so as to remove it from the dispenser; and

Figures 6a through 6 are diagrammatical views showing the forces involved during the removal of a receptacle such as that preferably used in the instant invention from the retaining jaws of a receptacle of a dispenser.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of a modified jaw structure for use in the invention.

As shown on the drawings:

The reference numeral 10 indicates a gravity operated piston and cylinder type dispenser containing a stack of receptacles, embodying the invention. In the dispenser 10, a piston 11 is disengageably mounted by suitable means on an upright support 12 which in turn is mounted on a stationary pedestal 13, so that the piston 11 presents a substantially horizontal stationary top face 11a. A cylindrical container 14 having vertically extending cylinder walls 14a which form a sleeve around the piston 11 is positioned close to the vertically extending peripheral walls 11b of the piston 11. The container 14 coacts telescopically with the piston 11 in the dispenser 10. The container 14 has a bottom wall 14b which has a small central opening conforming generally in shape with the cross sectional shape of the upright support 12 and permitting free movement between the container 14 and the upright support 12.

The walls of the opening in the bottom wall 14b of the container 14 lie closely adjacent to the upright support 12, and the cylindrical side walls 14a of the container 14 lie closely adjacent the peripheral walls 11b of the piston 11 in such a manner that free telescopic motion between the supported piston 11 and the container 14 is permitted but a minimum of dust, dirt, insects and the like forms of contamination may pass through the restricted passages thus formed.

Near but recessed slightly below the top of the inner side of the cylindrical walls 14a of the container 14 are mounted a plurality of evenly spaced retaining jaws 15, preferably only a pair of opposite jaws 15 being used. The jaws 15 are rigidly secured by suitable means to the cylindrical walls 14:: (or form a part thereof). Preferably, the jaws 15 extend inwardly far enough so as to overlie the top face 11a of the piston 11, thereby to support the container 14 if the dispenser is empty.

A nested inverted stack of receptacles 16 (only the top and bottoms of which are shown in Figure 2) is positioned within the dispenser 10. The bottom receptacle 16a rests upon the top face 11a of the piston 11 and the top receptacle 16b engages the jaws from below so that the stack of receptacles 16 in coacting with the jaws 15 supports the container 14.

Referring to Figures 4a, 4b and 40, a receptacle 16c that may be used in the practice of the invention is a paper dish or cup of conical shape provided with a folded portion 17 on the exterior thereof adapted to permit an inwardly deflected tongue 18 of a metal dish holder 19 to be moved rotatably into gripping contact with the folded portion 17 of the cup or dish 16c. The metal dish holder 19 has generally conically shaped walls suitable for receiving the conically shaped receptacle, and a flat bottom for resting on a table or counter. The receptacle 16c thus mounted in the metal cup 19 may be used to retain foods or liquids.

The receptacle 160 is flared back at the lip 20 thereof so as to give an inverted V-shaped lip on the receptacle 16. When the stack of receptacles 16 is inverted as shown in Figure 2 and mounted on the top face 11a of the piston 11, the lips 20 of each of the receptacles in the stack 16 extend outwardly and upwardly so that the outward edge contacts the inner side of the cylindrical walls 14a and the lip 20 of the top receptacle 16b extends outwardly and upwardly so as to contact the jaws 15 at the intersections between the jaws 15 and the cylindrical walls 14a. The weight of the container 14 thus exerts a force which tends principally to compress instead of bend the paper in the lip 20. Thus, because of the inverted V-shaped lip 20, coacting as it does with the cylindrical walls 14:: and the jaws 15, it is possible to support the weight of the container 14 even though thin flexible paper of very light weight may be used in the receptacle 16c. Moreover, the thickness (from a stacking point of view) of each of the receptacles in the stack 16 is no more than the thickness of the fold 17 in each of the receptacles, and a great number of receptacles may thus be contained in a stack such as the stack 16.

It can be seen that, in general, any flared-back lip structure might be used in the practice of the invention since such a structure might be caused to coact with the jaws 15 so as to support the weight of the container chiefly by the resistance of the paper lip to compression instead of fiexure. For example, a curled lip or one fiared back so as to form a curve instead of a sharp turn at the lip might be used. However, the inverted V- shaped structure is preferred since such structure can be obtained most easily in a simple folding operation, without distortion of the paper. Also, an inverted V-shaped lip structure suitable for use in the invention may be obtained by employing one or more folds similar to the fold 17 in the cup. However, the use of one fold only is greatly preferred because of the advantages in waste reduction, simplicity and uniformity of fabrication; and the instant invention offers a solution (hereinafter explained) to the problem created by the apparent unbalance of the single fold cup design disclosed herein.

Because of the flared back structure of the lips 20 in each of the receptacles 16, it is possible to obtain maximum protection against contamination of the lips of each cup or dish. The top receptacle 16b of the inverted stack 16 is so positioned that the portion of its lip 20 which would ordinarily contact the mouth of the user is protected and the extreme outer edge of the lips 20 contacts the inner surface of the cylinder walls 14a so as to prevent contamination of each of the receptacles below.

In order to use the metal cup 19 to remove the top receptacle 16b (which is shown in Figure 5b) in the absence of the other receptacles in the stack for the sake of convenience the metal cup 19 is inverted and brought into contact with receptacle 16b so that the tongue 18 engages the fold 17 of the receptacle 16b and the metal cup 19 is then used to lift the receptacle 1611 out of the dispenser. Manual removal of the receptacle is thus avoided and the receptacle is not torn or otherwise injured by the manner in which it is lifted out of the dispenser.

Referring to Figures 6a through 6 the tongue 18 of the metal cup 19 is engaged with the fold 17 of the receptacle 16b (as shown in Figure 6a). A lifting force is then applied, and the forces exerted on the receptacle (as shown in Figure 6b) include two downward forces resulting from the coaction between the jaws 15 and the lips 20 of the receptacle and an upward force designated by the reference numeral 21 resulting from the coaction between the tongue 18 and the fold 17. The upward force 21 is an off-center force exerted at a point along the wall of the receptacle 16b at some distance from the conical apex 22 of the receptacle 16b.

As shown in Figure 6c, the initial effect of the force 21 is to lift the side 23 of the receptacle in order to free the lip 20 from engagement with the jaw 15 at the side 23 first. As soon as the lip 20 is disengaged from the jaw 15 at the side 23, there would normally remain only two forces acting on the receptacle, as shown in Figure 6d, and the net result of those two forces is an urging of the receptacle to move in the direction of the side 23 as well as to twist in the direction indicated by the reference numeral 24 in Figure 6a.

The normal tendency of the receptacle would thus be to release itself from the tongue 18 as soon as the lip 20 of the side 23 is released from engagement with the jaw 15. However, in the dispenser herein described, the cylindrical walls 14a extend a short distance above the jaws 15, as shown in Figures 6e, and 6 and as soon as the lip 20 on the side 23 of the receptacle is disengaged from the jaws 15, the lip 20 comes into contact with and is thereby prevented from additional outward motion by a force exerted by the cylinder wall 14a. The lip 20 on the other side 25 of the receptacle is then disengaged from the jaw 15, the receptacle aligns itself with the metal cup 19 and is thus withdrawn uniformly and evenly from the dispenser 10 and securely retained by the tongue 18 in contact with the fold 17 in the receptacle.

Another advantage of the instant invention resides in the fact that the dispenser may be loaded with a fresh stack of receptacles through the top of the dispenser and, therefore, without separating the piston and cylinder. The flared back lips of the receptacles permits easy passage of the stack downwardly into the container past the retaining jaws without injury to the receptacles. Moreover, the portion of the cylindrical container walls 14a extending above the jaws 15 acts as a guide for the downwardly moving stack so that each individual receptacle is properly aligned in the container before it comes into contact with the recessed jaws therein.

Referring to Figure 7, it will be seen that the recessed jaw structure therein includes two jaw members. A primary jaw member 26 is substantially the structural equivalent of the jaws 15 hereinbefore described and shown in the other figures, particularly Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 512. A secondary jaw member 27 is a generally ear-shaped member mounted at the middle of and above the primary jaw 26. It has been found that the secondary jaw 27, mounted as it is so as to reduce somewhat the recess but not to destroy the effectiveness thereof, does not interfere with the proper functioning of the primary jaw 26 during loading and removal of the dishes 16, in the manner hereinbefore described.

Also, it has been found that the secondary jaw 27 cooperates with the primary jaw 26 in a unique manner so as to effect an improved retaining means for the dishes The primary jaw 26 presents a horizontal ledge of appreciable length which is curved slightly so as to conform with the contour of the inside cylinder walls and which breaks sharply from such walls to extend radially inwardly therefrom only a short distance so as to barely overlap the cooperating peripheral extremity of the upturned lip of the dish. In this manner the primary jaw 26 engages (along the line defined by the sharp break) an appreciable peripheral length of the extremity of the dish lip, so as to insure the proper application of compression forces at that portion of the lip and to prevent avoidance of the application of such compression forces by bending or distortion of the dish at an isolated point (instead of a line) at the periphery thereof. The primary jaw 26 thus obtains maximum strength benefit from the comparatively weak paper lip, supported by the other lips of the stacked dishes.

It will, of course, be appreciated that ledge portion of the primary jaw 26 may extend radially inwardly only a short distance in order to permit withdrawal of a single dish without damaging the same, because each dish must be forced against the stack of dishes during its initial movement in being pulled past the primary jaw 26, as is shown in Fig. 6c. Moreover, the essential function of the primary jaw 26 is to concentrate forces along the line defined by the sharp break and it is not theoretically necessary for the ledge to extend inwardly any more than is necessary to define the sharp break.

It has been found, however, that the stack of nested dishes has a certain amount of resiliency, such that the stack sometimes responds to sharp jars or blows so as to let one or two of the top dishes slip by the primary jaw 26. The secondary jaw 27 effectively prevents such dish or dishes from passing past the primary jaw 26 out of the top of the dispenser. As can be seen the secondary jaw 27 is a narrow vertically extending member, that extends radially inwardly appreciably beyond the inward edge of the primary jaw 26. The inward edge of secondary jaw extends inwardly and upwardly along a curve from the inward edge of the primary jaw 26 to a point slightly above the bottom face of the ledge of the primary jaw and then curves outwardly and upwardly until it merges with the dispenser wall slightly below the top thereof.

Since the secondary jaw 27 presents only a narrow face to be urged against the dish periphery at more of a point than a line, the individual dish is retained thereby chiefly because of the resistance to bending afforded by the relatively weak paper lip. It will be appreciated that such a force is much less adapted to support the weight of the dispenser cylinder than is the compression force exploited by the primary jaw 26. On the other hand, the resistance to bending employed by the secondary jaw 27 is used only to retain one or two dishes, while the stack therebelow supports the dispenser cylinder by means of the primary jaw 26. Also, the resilient or snapping action experienced in releasing a single dish from the primary jaw 26 is much less apparent during the release of a dish from the secondary jaw 27, which permits the dish peripheral portion to travel upwardly and outwardly along its curved face until the peripheral portion reaches the relatively small recessed area near the top of the dispenser cylinder. The secondary jaw 27 thus cooperates with the primary jaw 26 to effectively improve the overall function thereof.

It will, of course, be understood that various details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention and it is, therefore, not the purpose to limit the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of the appended claim.

I claim as my invention:

In a gravity operated piston and cylinder type dispenser, in combination, a movable cylindrical container having a pair of jaws mounted below but near the top of the inner wall of said container, said jaws being substantially diametrically opposed on the wall and adapted to removably retain an inverted stack of shallow paper cups telescopically cooperating with said container, each of said jaws having a primary jaw member which presents a downwardly facing ledge breaking sharply from the inner container wall to extend in a horizontal plane radially inwardly from the wall a short distance to barely overlap a cooperating peripheral extremity of one of the cups and a second jaw member having the shape of a thin vertically extending ear mounted above the central portion of said primary jaw and extending radially inwardly from said ledge a short distance, the circumferential dimension of the secondary jaw portion extending radially inwardly from the ledge having a circumferential dimension substantially less than that of the ledge so as to afford contact with the cup lip periphery substantially at a point while the ledge engages the cup lip periphery along an appreciably greater circumferential dimension.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

